The Love That Always Was
by Lordgeorge16
Summary: What if Roxas was sent to Castle Oblivion instead of Axel?  He would meet the girl he would always love, even if they weren't meant to exist.  Rated M for later chapters involving lemons, violence, and language.  RoxasxNamine, please R&R.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Birth by Nothingness

Darkness swirled around me like an ocean of emptiness. I looked up and saw a boy with spiky brown hair, wearing these yellow shoes, baggy red shorts and a black & white jacket with a red shirt underneath it, and his eyes were closed. He was holding an odd-looking sword…Or was it a key? I couldn't tell, because something was happening to him. The boy became transparent as two being floated out from him. One was a funny-looking creature, as black as the darkness around me save for a pair of gleaming yellow eyes, but the other…He had hair, facial features, and a body build similar to the boy's, but his hair was lighter and spiked more upwards. He had a white, unzipped jacket with a black shirt underneath it, along with a pair of black and white pants. His shoes were black with red laces, and seemed oddly familiar…Both of the boys looked familiar, and something dawned upon me. I found myself floating next to the original one, realizing that the one branching off of him was me. A blinding light shined out of nowhere as the darkness faded.

I groaned, hearing my own voice for the first time. The images in my head were fading quickly, and I couldn't hold on to them. My mind was blank once again as I opened my eyes. I realized that I was lying down in a grassy place.

_Where am I…?_ I thought to myself. _Wait…Who am I? What's going on?_ These questions continued to float around my head until I looked up to get a better view of my surroundings. There were a lot of trees surrounding this place, and a large wall to my left. Somehow able to quickly figure out motor control, I began to stand up. Everything felt strange, but I couldn't figure out why. I looked at the wall to my left to see a large gate with a lock on it, and past the wall was a large, old mansion.

_How did I get here?_ Suddenly, a large, oval-shaped portal made of complete darkness appeared out of the ground. It began to dissipate as a man in a hooded cloak stepped out of it. He was much taller than me, with black leather gloves and black boots, but I couldn't see his face under that hood. He approached me and stopped in front of the gate.

"Do you want to know?" He asked, as if reading my own thoughts. He raised his hand and moved it across my head as four silvery translucent letters appeared in front of me. It spelled out "Sora". The name was familiar, but I couldn't remember anything other than complete darkness before I woke up here. I simply looked down again in silence.

"You feel nothing. You can feel nothing." The cloaked man said coldly, but I knew he was right. I wasn't even sure what a "feeling" was in the first place. The words still floated in front of me, as if mocking my own existence.

"Do you want a meaning?" He asked. Without a second thought, I simply nodded. The man waved his hands at the letters as they began to spin around me rapidly. After several seconds, he held out his hand in the middle of the spinning letters as a large X appeared in the middle. The words turned golden and now spelled out "Roxas".

"…Roxas…" I said, reading the name for the first time. It was my name.

"A new you." The man said. His face became somewhat visible beneath the hood now. All I could see was his smiling face, with grayed-out eyebrows and amber-orange, almost evil eyes. He held out his hand behind him as another one of those portals opened up. I looked over at it, and then back at the man.

"I was like you once. I was lost and without purpose for a time. But my memories came back to me and soon I knew what I was…And what I had to do…" He said, walking towards the dark portal. He looked back at me. He motioned for me to follow. Knowing I had no other place to go and no other purpose, I smiled faintly and followed him. We stepped into the portal and everything went dark again.

In seconds, the darkness faded and I could see again. We were standing on an altar in this large, circular room. There were thirteen, tall chairs around us, only two of which were unoccupied at the time. The tallest one, which most likely belonged to the man standing next to me, and the shortest one, right across from his chair, which was probably mine.

"Good tidings, friends. Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat." He said, taking off his hood. I could finally get a clear look at his head. He had long, silvery hair that went down half of his back, and some of it rested on his shoulders and mid-tan skin. He looked down at me.

"Number XIII, Roxas. The Key of Destiny." He said. It was probably my new title. "Our Organization is finally complete. Today marks the day that we finally approach the completion of Kingdom Hearts, so we may finally be whole once again." The other eleven cloaked beings chattered amongst themselves for a few minutes before going silent again. The man looked around and simply said, "Dismissed." The other members engulfed themselves in darkness and vanished from their thrones. The man looked down at me.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself properly earlier. I am Number I, Xemnas. The founder and leader of the group you are now a part of, Organization XIII. Some also call me The Superior, so try not to forget these things so easily. If you have any other questions, you can come see me here or ask some of the other members…Although they may not give you such straightforward answers…" He chuckled after that last statement and surrounded himself in a similar darkness, vanishing from the room. I looked around silently and came upon a new dilemma.

_How do I make those portal things that they keep using?_ I asked myself. Remembering how Xemnas did it, I held out my hand and tried picturing a portal opening. My eyes widened as I saw one form exactly where my hand was pointing.

"I hope this works…" I said before running into the portal and everything faded to black again. I kept running and eventually the darkness dissipated from my view again, tripping and falling clumsily in what appeared to be a lounge of some kind where several other members were sitting around or talking to each other.

"Argh…Maybe running blindly isn't such a good idea…" I murmured, looking up to see that they all had their eyes on me like I was some kind of mutant. One man around the same height as Xemnas walked towards me. He had red, spiky hair slicked back, thin red eyebrows and emerald eyes. I noticed two small purple markings under his eyes as well as he looked down at me and sighed. He held out his hand as I took it and stood up, brushing a bit of dirt off of my pants.

"Umm…Thanks…" I said.

"Don't mention it. Hey, you're the new guy, right? Name's Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames. I'm Number VIII, but I'm sure the only part you'll remember is Axel. So, got it memorized?" He responded, patting my back. I simply nodded, unable to say anything else. "You don't talk a lot, do you?" He asked. I didn't say anything. "Heheh, you're kinda like a zombie. Anyway, The Superior assigned me to keep an eye on you and teach you some stuff when we're out on missions."

"…Missions?" I asked, probably sounding like an idiot again.

"Well of course. We're not in Organization XIII just for fun, we have jobs to do." He said. "Since you're new, you're not gonna have any missions right away, but I'm sure something will come up soon. Want me to show you to your room for now?" He asked. I nodded and he sighed, most likely due to my lack of speech. Axel started walking out of this lounge area and I followed him. It never occurred to me now, but as soon as I was walking along one of these balconies, I realized that this building was really a massive castle under a night sky. Off in the horizon, a city could be seen, equally as dark as the areas surrounding the castle. After a few minutes of walking, we came to a hallway. There were doors with numbers on the top of them, and we stopped in front of one titled XIII. It's like they were waiting for me to appear out of thin air. Axel looked down at me.

"You should get plenty of rest for now; you're probably still confused and what-not. Things should be better in the morning." He said, pointing to the bed. It was made entirely out of the same material as many other structures in the castle, but with a pillow and blanket to go along with it. I yawned, suddenly realizing how tired I was and stepped in, observing the rest of the room. It was mostly bare, save for a light on the ceiling and a small closet with a coat, gloves, and boots similar to the other Organization members.

"You'll be wearing that coat from now on. Sorry if you wanted to keep your casual clothes on…" Axel said, scratching his head. There was also a window that showed a clear view of the night sky. It was bare right now except for multitudes of small stars. "Well…Good night." Axel said, exiting the room and closing the door behind me. I pulled off my shoes and lay down in the bed. I turned off the light, pulled up the covers and fell into a deep sleep. Absolute nothingness once again.


	2. The Short Existence

Chapter One: The Short Existence

I stretched and yawned, as the nothingness I had become so used to during sleep faded away and I opened my eyes, only to see the gray, metallic ceiling of my own room. I realized that it was exactly one week since I was found in Twilight Town. During that week, I learned so much about…Well, pretty much everything. I looked in the mirror, carefully observing my features to see if they were any different than my first day. Other than my clothes, which were simply a black t-shirt and long black pants to go underneath my cloak, I looked virtually the same. I hopped out of bed, putting on my socks and boots before walking over to the closet near the door. I reached inside and pulled out my Organization XIII cloak, slipping it on and zipping up everything but the bottom part that would normally cover most of my legs. Everyone else seemed to do it, so why not me? I picked up my gloves and put them on while looking in the mirror again, noticing something strange. I looked closely at my face, and for a split second, I didn't look like myself. It didn't last long, but I saw the face of a boy with blue eyes and brown, spiky hair. That's when it hit me. That was the boy who I saw before I opened my eyes for the first time. Who was he and why was I thinking about him? Suddenly, I felt pain. I held my head and dropped to my knees, my vision was getting dark and blurry. The last thing I felt was my body hitting the floor and losing consciousness.

Around the same time, in a far off location, a dilapidated castle stood against an everlasting darkness, with a road seemingly floating on nothing. Within the castle, there were white walls and similarly-colored decorations on the walls and corners. In every room, there was a staircase at the ends of each hall, one going down to a door and one going up to a door. High up, on the thirteenth floor, Xemnas, Saïx and Vexen were standing around a machine. Vexen was busily typing on a few panels while the other two simply watched, waiting for something to happen. The three Nobodies noticed a young girl sitting in a chair a few feet behind the machine. Her eyes seemed to be focused on something, but it was difficult to tell. She wore a white dress that went down several inches past her white panties, so nobody could see them unless someone's head happened to be right underneath her. Her medium-small sized breasts pressed against the upper part of her dress, but didn't show off any cleavage unless she bent down. Her white sandals reflected small lights while she gently swung them back and forth in her chair. Her blue eyes and blonde hair added a look of beautiful innocence to her complexity. The other Nobodies simply resumed waiting for something to happen.

"What's taking so long, Vexen?" Xemnas asked, his voice echoing slightly against the walls.

"His leaked memories aren't fully compiled yet. _Someone_ must not be trying hard enough…" Vexen muttered, glaring at the girl in the chair for a moment before yelling. "Naminé, you must keep trying!"

"I am…it's just so…difficult…" The girl named Naminé whimpered. She was one of the first Nobodies to be able to express and feel emotion, but it was highly limited as she has only existed for one week. She could also control memories, but only the memories of certain people. Naminé's lip quivered, as if she was about to cry. She held it in and continued to focus. One of Vexen's panels began to beep rapidly.

"Finally…" Vexen muttered under his breath. He looked towards the machine as it hissed with steam. The doors began to slide open as another girl stepped out of the machine. She wore no clothes, but most of her exposed body was covered by steam. She had a similar body to Naminé, except her hair was black and a little shorter, and she was completely faceless. She began to step forward, but suddenly collapsed. Parts of her body suddenly burst with light, as tiny glass shards began to fly up into the ceiling and pass right through. It looked like her body was becoming crystallized and was disappearing. Despite the fact that she had no mouth, a bloodcurdling scream could be heard from the girl as her body was enveloped with light and completely vanished, as if she never existed. Xemnas was not pleased.

"What happened to our puppet?" Saïx asked, hoping to calm Xemnas down with an explanation.

"I…I don't know. Naminé, do you have an explanation?" Vexen turned towards the blonde girl, who had a confused expression on her face.

"Maybe his memories couldn't be properly stored in a fake body…I think they were diverted to another person who could hold them." She responded.

"But who could…Roxas!" Xemnas said, realizing that Roxas was the only other person who could contain those memories. He began to plot, forming many ideas in his head.

"Ugh…What happened…?" I groaned, regaining consciousness slowly. My eyes opened, trying to adjust themselves again. I stood up and shook my head, looking in the mirror again. I gasped and realized that I looked different again. My eyes were still blue, but I had the facial features of a young woman. My hair was black and went down as far as my upper neck. I blinked several times in confusion, and then I looked like my normal self again.

"What's going on with me?" I asked myself. Sighing, and hoping my appearance would just stay normal, I walked out of the room and down the hall.

Author's note:

Sorry Xion fans, she dies off shortly after her creation, but it's for a good reason later, trust me! I'm also sorry that most of this chapter was focused on the perspective of Xemnas, Saïx, and Vexen, but it was the only way I could properly introduce Naminé into the story. You'll also later find out why Roxas looked like Xion for a moment. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; the next one should be done sooner or later thanks to Winter vacation! :D


	3. Nothing Meets Oblivion

Chapter Two: Nothing Meets Oblivion

I walked down the familiar streets of Twilight Town, the chains on my cloak jingling slightly with almost every step. It had been an entire month since I was found in front of that abandoned mansion and I was getting the hang of going on missions, fighting Heartless, performing reconnaissance, and other things. Axel, who quickly became my closest friend, followed behind me, sighing.

"Why did we get stuck on search-and-destroy mission that turned out to be a wild goose chase?" The red-haired man asked.

"It has to be around here somewhere, it just has to be…" I murmured to myself, making sure I didn't miss a thing every time I looked around the plaza. Today, Axel and I were sent on a mission to eliminate a particularly elusive Heartless called the Veil Lizard. It could turn itself invisible at will, which makes it that much harder to defeat. Axel suddenly looked up and pointed near a broken wall.

"Hey, there it is! Don't let it get away this time Roxas!" He yelled, running after the oversized chameleon. I drew my Kingdom Key and followed behind him. Axel launched a Fira spell at the Veil Lizard, barely missing as it moved toward the hole in the wall and promptly vanished. "I think it's heading for the mansion, come on!" Axel called, running through the hole. I paused for a second, and then followed him again as fast as my legs could carry me. We darted through the forest, quickly approaching the mansion entrance.

I was panting by the time we got there. My lungs burned a little and my legs ached, begging for some rest, but I knew we had to press on and defeat this Heartless before we could take any sort of break. The Veil Lizard suddenly dropped its disguise and launched its tongue at me. I raised my Kingdom Key for a quick defensive maneuver, but I was too slow and got knocked to the ground, letting out a grunt of pain. Axel jumped in front of me and lit one of his Chakrams on fire, throwing it at the oversized chameleon. It stumbled back from the impact, but then spun around and hit Axel with its tail. I got up as soon as Axel went down, feeling a strange, new energy emanating from my body. In a burst of light, a second Kingdom Key appeared in my left hand.

_Two Keyblades?_ I thought to myself as they both began to glow. The Kingdom Key in my right hand suddenly turned as black as the night itself. The blade extended slightly to give a further reach and looked like it had a chain-like pattern embedded in each side. The teeth of the Keyblade became more complex and sharp. The hilt guards now resembled bat wings, and the hilt itself had a dark blue diamond in the middle. The keychain had turned into a black crown as well. The word "Oblivion" ran through my head, as if someone whispered it in my ear. Then, the Kingdom Key in my left hand shined with a light comparable to that of the sun itself. The shaft of this Keyblade displayed two hearts, one where the blade connected to the hilt and the other at the tip. The shaft itself was split into two long rods that separated at the bottom heart and entwined at the tip to form the top heart. The hilt guards were now that of angel wings, a perfect contrast to Oblivion's bat wing guards. The teeth of the Keyblade now pointed out in several directions, like the light of a star. The keychain was now a small, yellow star attached by one of its points. Just like with the other Keyblade, the word "Oathkeeper" appeared in my head. I spun the two Keyblades in my hands and dashed forward, unleashing a quick yet deadly combination of attacks that seemed to flow in perfect movement. At the end of the combo, I backflipped, crouched and darted forward, cleaving through the Veil Lizard in an X formation with Oblivion and Oathkeeper. It shrieked and fell over as its body evaporated, leaving a large heart in its place that slowly drifted into the sky.

Axel slowly awoke after the defeat of the Veil Lizard. He looked up at me with an expression of surprise on his face.

"Roxas…What are those?" He said, eyeing my new weapons.

"I'm not quite sure myself, they just appeared in my hands right after the Heartless knocked you out…But they're really powerful, I finished it off in just a few hits." I responded, letting the Keyblades disappear for now. I raised my hand and cast a quick Cure spell on Axel to patch him up. "You wanna go get some ice cream now?" I asked him as he stood up.

"Sure, I could use some after a fight like that. Wait 'till Xemnas hears your report on this mission!" He responded, and we both laughed, walking out through the forest and back to the town. We got our ice cream and walked up to the top of the clock tower, looking at the sunset.

"So, what do you think we're going to be assigned next, Axel?" I asked after taking a bite out of my sea-salt ice cream.

"Well, I hear that a few of us are going to be assigned to some place called Castle Oblivion in about a week. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get to go," He said, pausing for another bite. "But it could be a dangerous task. You've only been with us for about a month, Roxas. You're strong, and those new Keyblades might help you out some more, but you still have a lot to learn."

"Yeah…" I simply responded, looking down slightly.

"Hey now, you have me to help you out! That's what friends are for, Roxas." He nudged my shoulder, smiling a bit. I let out a small chuckle and nudged him back, feeling better now. "We should probably head back now, before they think we decided to run away or something." Axel said, standing up. We started walking back down to RTC when I looked back at the sun for a minute, in its eternal state of setting. I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching over me during that fight with the Veil Lizard.

About one week had passed, and Xemnas summoned us for a meeting. He was the last one to appear in his chair, directly across from mine.

"Fellow Nobodies, I have finally decided the team who will protect Castle Oblivion. This will not be an easy task, and you will not receive your proper directives until you arrive at the location. The following Organization members who have been assigned to Castle Oblivion are…Vexen…Lexaeus…Zexion…Marluxia…Larxene…And Roxas. Marluxia, you're in charge of this team. You six are to leave in one hour. Dismissed." With that, Xemnas disappeared from his chair, as did the rest of us. I found Axel in the lounge, better known as The Grey Area.

"So…I guess you won't be coming with us. Sorry Axel…" I said to him, feeling disappointed.

"Don't worry about it…It's not like you'll be gone forever, right?" He responded, shaking his head. "Anyway, you have to go get ready. I'll still be here when you get back, okay?" I nodded in agreement, and then walked back to my room. I didn't need to pack much other than a few Potions and Ethers in case I got into a fight. I paused and looked into my mirror like I did over a month ago. I studied every facial feature, from my blue eyes to my spiky, golden hair, to the shape of my head. Everything was the way it was supposed to be. I sighed with relief, only to be startled by the sound of someone whispering in my ear.

"Don't worry Roxas, everything will make sense soon enough…" I spun around, expecting to see someone behind me, but there was nobody there. Shaking slightly with fear, I left the room immediately and found the others who were assigned to Castle Oblivion.

"Ah, Roxas, there you are. Are you ready to leave?" The pink-haired man, whom I learned was Marluxia, asked me. I nodded as we walked towards a Corridor of Darkness. We each stepped through, one by one, and I was the last to go in. A second later, I was walking on a road floating in nothingness. I looked up to see a large castle not too far away. This was Castle Oblivion. As we walked toward the large front doors, I felt a strange presence. It felt oddly familiar, despite the fact that I had never even seen this place until now. Part of me wanted to turn and run away, but where would I go? I turned to face the castle again as Marluxia pushed the massive doors open. We stepped inside to find ourselves in a large, white room. There were two staircases on each side of the room, one going up and one going down.

"I suggest we split up into separate groups. One group covers the top thirteen floors and the other group covers the bottom thirteen floors." Vexen spoke up. Marluxia nodded, and turned to face us, deciding who would go where.

"All right…Zexion, Lexaeus, and Vexen, you three cover the basement floors. Larxene and Roxas, you two are with me up here." He said, walking toward a newly formed Corridor of Darkness. Larxene and I followed him as the senior Organization members entered their own Corridor to the lower floors.

As we arrived at the thirteenth floor, the presence I felt earlier had grown stronger. Marluxia opened a door to a room with a crystal orb in the center. Then I noticed someone else in the room, a girl, sitting in a chair and drawing on a notepad. I looked at her, and she raised her head. I felt my eyes widen as she looked at me, and realized that she was the familiar presence. I had no idea why, though, because I had never met her before. I studied her every feature from where I stood, from her flax-colored hair to her blue eyes, to her white dress. She smiled faintly, then looked up at Marluxia with a hint of fear and resumed her drawings. Marluxia turned away and walked toward the crystal orb with Larxene as I walked closer to the girl nervously.

"H-Hi…My name is Roxas…" I whispered, internally slapping myself for sounding like an idiot. The girl giggled.

"I'm Naminé, and I've known you longer than you think, Roxas." She said, showing me some of the pictures from her notepad. I realized they were drawings of things that I've done ever since I joined the Organization, such as the fight with the Veil Lizard, or whenever Axel and I sat up on the clock tower in Twilight Town and ate ice cream. My eyes widened in surprise and I looked up at Naminé.

"You…Were you that voice I heard before I left?" I asked, practically in shock at this sudden twist. Naminé nodded.

"I'm not quite sure of everything myself just yet, but from the moment I saw you in my dreams, I knew we were going to meet soon." She explained to me. I started to feel less worried and a bit calmer, but now a new feeling was taking over. It felt like my stomach was weightless and empty, and my chest was heating up a little. By now, I was sure that Nobodies could only experience emotions from the memories of their former lives, but since I barely remembered a thing, how could I be feeling something like this? Naminé giggled again as I felt the heat from my chest extend up to my face. I couldn't understand this feeling, and it was very disorienting…But at the same time, I didn't want it to ever stop.

Author's note:

I'm really sorry about how long it took for me to produce this chapter, but I really hope everyone enjoyed it. Now that my Summer vacation is here, I need to get back to work on this fan-fic now that I have plenty of time to do so. Also, the fact that Roxas can dual-wield so early on in the story is because, yes, you guessed it, Xion died in the previous chapter. For those of you who don't know why, here's an explanation: Since Xion is the embodiment of Sora's various leaked memories taking on a form similar to that of Kairi, she could coexist beside Roxas as a sort of clone. In Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, when Xion is defeated by Roxas, he gains the ability to use Oblivion and Oathkeeper simultaneously because those parts of Sora's memories have been transferred into Roxas. Since Xion died off early in my fan-fic, Roxas gets the dual wield ability earlier than in the canon storyline. Anyway, chapter three should be done within a month if I decide to get off of my lazy ass and work on it!


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